Based on scans of over 42,000 U.S child IDs by an identity theft protection company, the report found that 4,311 of the children in the report – or 10.2 percent – had someone else using their Social Security number to purchase homes and automobiles, open credit card accounts, secure employment, and obtain driver’s licenses. Other key findings include:

The largest identity theft fraud ($725,000) was committed against a 16-year-old girl,

303 identity theft victims were under the age of five years, and

The youngest victim of identity theft was five months old.

The report offers glimpses into the real life threat of identity theft to the financial security of families, articulate vital concerns, and raises public awareness about identity theft. For more information and to download the full report – “Child Identity Theft: New Evidence Indicates Identity Thieves are Targeting Children for Unused Social Security Numbers” – visit CyBlog at: http://www.cyblog.cylab.cmu.edu/2011/03/child-identity-theft.html.

Defined as the misuse of an existing account, misuse of personal information to open a new account, or misuse of personal information for other fraudulent purposes, identity theft was reported by an estimated 11.7 million victims according to a 2008 Government Survey and the resulting financial losses totaled more than $17 billion.

To help protect the personal information of consumers used in background checks from identity theft, Employment Screening Resources (ESR) – a nationwide background check provider accredited by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) – never uses a full Social Security number (SSN) in its consumer reports.